Court Upholds Minister Nameere’s Election Victory

The Masaka High Court has upheld the election of State Minister for Local Government Justine Nameere Nsubuga as Masaka City Woman Member of Parliament.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Bernard Namanya dismissed a petition filed by Rose Nalubowa, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, who challenged Nameere’s declaration on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket.

Nameere was declared the winner following a vote recount ordered by Masaka Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe.

The recount overturned the Electoral Commission’s initial declaration of Nalubowa as the winner of the January 15 election.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, Nalubowa petitioned the High Court, challenging the Chief Magistrate’s decision and the subsequent declaration of Nameere. She accused the magistrate of abusing his powers and conducting the recount in violation of electoral laws.

However, Justice Namanya ruled that although Nalubowa had partly proved the recount was conducted in breach of electoral laws, she failed to demonstrate that the irregularities substantially affected the overall election results.

In her petition, filed through her lawyer, Samuel Mulindwa Muyizi, Nalubowa argued that the Chief Magistrate ordered the recount outside the statutory 14-day period following the declaration of results.

She also contended that the magistrate disregarded applicable legal principles by proceeding with the recount despite finding that several ballot boxes had been tampered with while in the Electoral Commission’s stores.

Justice Namanya noted that the Chief Magistrate had placed before the court a certified record of the recount proceedings, which showed that results from nine polling stations were excluded after their election materials were found to have been tampered with.

The court established that the affected polling stations had a combined total of 3,886 registered voters, of whom 1,353 voted for either Nameere or Nalubowa.

“Even if those excluded (1,353 votes) were added to Nalubowa Rose’s tally, her total would rise to 24,529 votes, leaving Nameere Justine ahead by 973 votes. The exclusion of the 1,353 actual votes therefore did not affect the election results substantially,” the judgment reads in part.

Notably, before the recount, the Electoral Commission had declared Rose Nalubowa the winner with 25,443 votes against Nameere’s 20,324 votes. However, after the recount of the ballot papers, Nalubowa’s tally fell to 23,176 votes, while Nameere’s rose to 25,502.

Justice Namanya concurred with Nalubowa that the recount did not fully comply with electoral laws but was quick to emphasise that an election cannot be overturned solely based on irregularities unless they substantially affect the outcome. “Under this test, proving that there was non-compliance with the electoral laws is not sufficient to overturn the election.

The petitioner must further demonstrate that the non-compliance was severe enough to affect the results,” the judge ruled. Consequently, the court dismissed Nalubowa’s petition and ordered her to pay Nameere’s legal costs. Nalubowa says she is going into a meeting with her legal team to forge a way forward, arguing that the judgment has glaring loopholes.